Principles of Natural Resources Management | Harvard University

Professionals in the sustainability and global development fields often need to work on or assess agricultural, water, or forest conservation projects, or supply chains across different geographic, ecological, and agricultural regions. While they do not have to be experts in every situation, they do need to be able to learn quickly about complex natural systems in order to work effectively in teams, provide analysis, and make programmatic decisions. Despite the diversity of these natural systems, there are common processes and mechanisms that underpin and connect all of them and there are key questions one can ask in any situation to learn more. If professionals are familiar with these common ecological and physical processes, then they are capable of quickly adjusting their work to new contexts by asking relevant technical questions, recognizing what they don't yet know, and identifying with whom they should consult. This course is designed to cultivate critical thinking as it relates to natural resources management to help each student understand common processes across natural systems and their interrelatedness, and to develop a set of questions that can guide their future work in any given location. Food security, biodiversity, and the long-term health of a society and its peoples depend upon the sustainable management of water, soil, forest, and grassland and other plant resources. However, these resources are often mismanaged: contamination of water, habitat loss, over-exploitation of aquifers, over-grazing, deforestation, extreme soil erosion, and an over-reliance on agricultural chemicals affect the agricultural productivity, ecology, carbon emissions, and climate change resilience of almost all nations. Understanding how to conserve water sources, soil, and biodiversity while reducing poverty and improving food security and rural livelihoods is a major global challenge. The course broadly covers the characteristics and management of water, soils, forests, pastures, and agricultural systems. Specific topics include an overview of hydrologic cycle and global water resources, including river formation, channel dynamics, and water movement, and their link to landscape formation, agricultural productivity and biodiversity; surface water and groundwater resources and their relation to agriculture, irrigation, and ecology; unsustainable land-use and agricultural practices and how they relate to watershed and soil degradation; soil characteristics and erosion and their link to agricultural productivity and water retention; conventional versus sustainable agriculture; soil conservation and enhancement strategies; the world below ground (including fungi); debate over land use and water yields; if forests actually provide more water downstream; disturbance ecology and its role in natural and agricultural plant communities; principles of forestry and agro-forestry; grazing and pasture management; integrated pest management; and principles of ecosystem restoration. The course integrates these topics to help students understand the interconnectedness of natural resources. Students explore them through an individual or team assignment focused on a natural resources management system in a location of their choice.